North Korea says Trump is 'begging for nuclear war'

Pyongyang says Washington is undermining peace and is playing a dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea launches a missile on November 29. Photo: Rodong Sinmun.

US President Trump and his administration are "begging for nuclear war," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said on December 2, according to CNN.

Trump is taking "an extremely dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean peninsula," the spokesman said, calling him a "disruptor of global peace."

The comments come ahead of a joint US-South Korea military exercise scheduled to begin on December 4. About 12,000 US military personnel and 230 aircraft are expected to take part in the exercise, called Vigilant Ace.

North Korean officials made similar comments last month. North Korean state media sharply criticized Trump during his visit to South Korea. Last month, Trump put North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a move Pyongyang strongly objected to.

North Korea tested the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile on November 29 and declared itself a nuclear state. Mr. Trump threatened to impose tougher sanctions and urged China to do more to rein in North Korea.

According to VNE